Charleston Currents

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FOCUS: Magnolia to present Aug. 20 program to help bridge generation gap

Staff reports | Neal Glatt, a nationally-recognized workplace team coach, will show young and old mid-level managers Aug. 20 how to effectively bridge the generation gap to solve “people problems” in the office environment.

This four-hour workshop at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is being offered to help Baby Boomers and Gen. Xers understand how to collaborate with Millennials as they rise to management positions, Glatt said in a press release.

Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s executive director, invited Glatt to Magnolia. Earlier this year, Johnson attended Glatt’s presentation at the Gulf States Horticulture Expo in Mobile, Ala.

by Charleston Currents · 07/22/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Matheny: Gen Xers are driving trend of multi-generational housing

Via Digit Matheny, contributing editor | This Is Us. Jane the Virgin. Black-ish. What do they have in common? They are all family television programs that have members of multiple generations living under one roof. But the reality of multi-generational living is more than sitcom fodder.

According to the 2019 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), multi-generational housing continues to be a growing trend among homebuyers. This trend is driven largely by Gen Xers, who are the second-largest band of homebuyers today at 24%. Of that cohort, one in six purchased a multi-gen home, half of whom cited accommodating adult children as their reason for doing so.

When it comes to millennial buyers, 9 percent purchased a multi-generational property they could share with aging parents, per the report.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 07/15/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news, Real estate

FOCUS, Palm: Much more work needed on flood-prone areas

By Fred Palm, contributing editor | The City of Charleston is required to identify severely flood-damaged properties so that if the damage is extensive, the properties are removed from the floodplain and, if not, they are brought up to a higher level of resilience to better survive the next flood event.

This is a long-term, common-sense strategy to correct past planning and building decisions that did not work with increases in flood events and to lessen the replacement cost borne by all taxpayers. This also is a “common good” policy offering transition. Carried out over decades, owners are to be compensated for their losses, at-risk housing is removed from the floodplain, and we get to live in a more resilient community.

Unfortunately, the sensible policy is not being done well enough and treated more on a par with sloppy housekeeping by the city. …

by Fred Palm · 07/07/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Common Good, Focus, Good news, Views

FOCUS: What I’ve learned in 23 years as an LGBTQ Charleston Realtor

By Charlie Smith, special to Charleston Currents | I moved home to Charleston 23 years ago after two years at Clemson working on a master’s degree in planning and 12 years of living in Miami. Soon after returning, I walked into Dudley’s on King Street and ran into an old acquaintance who had lived up the street from me in graduate school. He asked what I intended to do for a living.

I told him that I intended to establish South Carolina’s first openly gay-owned and -operated real estate brokerage, marketing primarily to the LGBTQ community. His immediate response was “You’ll never make a dime in this town!” I never forgot those words. I immediately set out to prove him wrong.

Real estate was a tight-knit business community back then. It was not all that welcoming to people who had no intention of working under an established broker, but rather who planned to start an office from scratch. It was also 1996 and the internet was in its infancy as a real estate tool.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 07/01/2019 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news, Views

FOCUS: Lowcountry Food Bank gets $120,000 in grants to fight hunger

Staff reports | The Lowcountry Food Bank has been awarded $120,000 in community investment grants for 2019-2022 from Trident United Way, the organization announced last week. The grants will help the nonprofit agency to conduct additional fresh produce distributions, implement nutrition education and provide child hunger relief to residents in the Charleston tri-county area.

Through the proposed Healthy Foods Initiative, the food bank is expected to achieve the following objectives through these grants in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties:

* Distribute more than 4.8 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in the community through direct-to-client distributions to more than 102,000 low-income and food-insecure children, adults, and seniors;
* Conduct at least 175 farmers’ market-style fresh produce distributions annually in underserved, high-need communities;
* Provide more than 900 children each year with fresh fruits and vegetables …

by Charleston Currents · 06/24/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Morris: Let’s work proactively to build a brighter Charleston future

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | There are four key issues at the heart of every community. These are jobs, housing, education and infrastructure. Charleston is very fortunate to have a diverse foundation of businesses and a plethora of jobs. This is in large part due to many local business leaders, our local and state government, and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, an association put together after we lost the Charleston Naval Shipyard in the early 1990s.

When the naval shipyard, our largest employer, closed, our community heard the need and came together at a critical point in time. Leadership from all parts of the Tri-county area worked tirelessly to solve the jobs problem. We wanted strong, sustainable employment for our citizens. This effort paid off over time. Charleston is now known all over the world, and people are coming by the thousands both as tourists and new residents. We have jobs.

The other three issues though are still in the “need” stage. We are struggling with the availability of affordable workforce housing. …

by Kyra Morris · 06/17/2019 · 2 comments · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Wando Mount Pleasant Library is a library of the future

By David Burt, special to Charleston Currents | When Wando Mount Pleasant Library celebrates its ribbon cutting on June 10, it will mark a new era in our libraries and the ways in which we interact with them.

The area’s original branch library was built in the 1970s, when a library was primarily dedicated to books: storing, organizing and sharing them. Card catalogues and date stamps may loom large in our memories; however, evolving technologies have brought new opportunities and a new paradigm of the library experience.

The new 40,000-square-foot facility on the corner of Carolina Park Boulevard and Park Avenue brings the library into the modern era with connectivity driving the design. The design aligns active spaces with the roadways to activate the facades, showcasing the library’s lively programming to the community. The form is a direct response to the site’s linear shape and the adjacent wetland to the northeast.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 06/09/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Some smart tips to beat the heat

By April Sorrow, Jefferson, Ga. | As temperatures climb into the 90s, Jackson Electric Membership Corporation encourages members to reduce energy use where possible to save money. When temperatures outside are high, heat pumps must work overtime to keep the air indoors cool.
Follow these tips to reduce energy use to save money.

Stay cool for less. Nearly half of the electricity used at home goes to condition the air inside. To impact cost, the air conditioner or heat pump needs to run less.

* Set your thermostat to 78 degrees.
* Don’t turn off the air conditioner when you’re gone; instead set it higher. Turning it off makes the system work much harder to overcome the heat built up in the house when you turn it back on.
* Better still, use a programmable thermostat. Set it to bring your home’s temperature down to 78 degrees 30 minutes before you get home.

by Charleston Currents · 06/03/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Keep your pets cool in hot weather

Staff reports | With record-breaking heat arriving in the Lowcountry earlier than usual, pet owners are advised by the Charleston Animal Society, which has issued an early heat advisory, to make sure to keep their pets cool in hot weather. These tips are good any time of the summer.

Keep animals indoors and limit outdoor activities during a heat wave. People are urged to leave pets at home and not take them outside to the beach or other events. Even swimming, a dog can overheat.

“We know it’s always fun to take our pets with us, but we have to put their well-being first,” Dr. Lucy Fuller, senior director of veterinary care at Charleston Animal Society, said in a news release. “We are also reminding everyone not to leave pets in cars – even for a quick run into a store – it is just too dangerous.”

by Charleston Currents · 05/27/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

ADAMS: 548 miles down; Only 1,644 to go!

By Jerry Adams, contributing editor, May 14, 2019 | Their chatter let me know they were coming a few minutes before they caught up to me on the trail this morning. I stopped to let the young couple pass and we chatted.

“Since I left Springer in March, more than 500 people have passed me on the trail, “ I said. “But that’s OK. I’m slow. We’ve been out here for more than 500 miles and more than 500 hikers have already left the trail, ending their journey. We’re still here!””

They smiled. We chatted briefly about the two topics on every hiker’s mind — the machete guy and bears. Bears have been wreaking havoc in this area of Virginia, and the machete guy had just been arrested for killing one thru-hiker and cutting up another.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 05/20/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news